‘I spent £3,000 on a non-existent car from a fake dealership: how can I get my money back?’
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Dear Which?,
I bought a Honda Insight car for £3,090 after seeing an advert on Facebook Marketplace.
The ad took me to the website of ‘Miller Car Sales Limited’. I was unsure about the company, so I checked the car’s MOT and tax status and paid for a comprehensive vehicle history report. All of the details matched the advert.
I looked up Miller Car Sales Limited on Companies House and phoned them up. Someone answered the call and we spoke about the car. They then sent over documents which included the purchase contract and ‘verified’ the company’s identity.
I paid for the car by bank transfer. A few days later, Halifax contacted me and told me that it believed I’d been the victim of a scam.
I looked up the dealer’s website and it was gone. The phone number was gone too. I searched for the company again and discovered that a car magazine had investigated this scam and uploaded their conversation with the company onto YouTube.
Halifax admitted it could have done more to warn me about the scam but said I'd ignored red flags about the company. It agreed to reimburse half the money I lost.
Is there any way I can get the remainder of my money back?
Omar Ali*
Put to Rights
Tali Ramsey, consumer rights expert at Which?, says:
It sounds like you did some due diligence before buying the car, so it’s a shame that you were only reimbursed half of the money you lost to this scam.
Many banks, including Halifax, are signed up to a vountary code under which they agree to reimburse blameless victims of bank transfer scams. However, decisions are assessed on a case-by-case basis and different banks interpret the code in different ways. This means that it's often up to victims to prove that they were ‘blameless’ in their specific situation.
We contacted Halifax on your behalf and it told us: ‘We have a great deal of sympathy for Mr Ali, who was the victim of a scam. We fully investigate the individual details of each case and consider a number of factors in line with the industry code.
‘In this case, despite a number of red flags, Mr Ali did not take sufficient steps to check the company was genuine before sending money. We also recognise we could have done more to warn him and have therefore refunded half of money he lost.’
If you’re unhappy with this outcome, you'll need to escalate the case to the Financial Ombudsman and ask it to review the decision.
When it comes to making online purchases from small, unknown retailers or via social media, it's important to fully research the company.
Check the company's website for spelling and gramatical errors. If you're encouraged to send money by bank transfer rather than paying by credit or debit card, this could be a sign of a scam.
Keep an eye out for common tactics such as time-limited offers and above all, be on your guard against deals that seem too good to be true.
Need to know
- Check out our guide on where to buy a car
- Discover how to spot a fake, fraudulent or scam website.
- Get help on taking a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
- Learn how to protect yourself from scams.
Get in touch. If you've got a consumer rights problem you need put right email us at yourstory@which.co.uk.
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*name changed